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剔除 (tī chú) — to remove, to eliminate, to get rid of (unwanted things)

Definition

A formal, written verb for removing unwanted items from a group — stronger and more deliberate than 删 (delete text) and more selective than 清除 (clear away). Common in editing, quality control, and data analysis contexts.

verb
to removeto eliminateto get rid of (unwanted things)

Examples

  • 剔除。
    Wǒ men xū yào tī chú shuǐ zhōng de zá zhì.
    We need to remove impurities from the water.
  • 剔除。
    Gōng chǎng huì tī chú bù hé gé de chǎn pǐn.
    The factory will discard unqualified products.
  • 剔除。
    Biān jí zǐ xì tī chú le wén zhōng de cuò wù.
    The editor carefully eliminated the errors in the text.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

剔tīpick out
除chúremove

剔 means pick out and 除 means remove, so the word expresses taking out what is unwanted.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
刀刀dāoknife
Sound part声符shēngfú
易
易yì剔tī
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

剔 combines 刀, a knife, with 易, which gives the character its sound.

Open 剔 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
阜阜fù
Sound part声符shēngfú
余
余yú除chú
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

除 is built from 阜 and 余, with 余 giving the sound.

Open 除 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

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